Saturday, February 14, 2015

VALENTINE'S DAY NEW RELEASE AND GIVEAWAY OF HIDDEN TRAILS by Cheryl Pierson



I’ve got a new release that hit the shelves last week just before Valentine's Day! Hidden Trails is my latest western historical novella. This was a fun little novella to work on because it was something I hadn't dealt with before. Though I write a lot of stories with heroes who are of mixed heritage--half white/half Indian, or half white/half Hispanic, I've never written a story with a heroine quite like Valentine Reneau.

Valentine's mother was a slave, a beautiful octoroon, whose cruel master sold her off in a fit of drunken pique--luckily for her! She is able to marry and make a new life for herself, but there is always the uneasy fear that her former owner might find her--even though the Civil War has ended, and she is free. When Valentine is old enough to understand, her stepfather explains it to her, and so begins her burden of constantly looking over her shoulder, as well.

Now that Valentine's on her own, she has to protect herself. The old fear is there, and it's very real. But Valentine isn't alone any longer.

Levi Connor rides into her life with a bullet in his leg, half dead from cold, hunger and blood loss. Once Valentine saves him, will he ride on, or will he stay and help her face her nightmare-turned-reality--the man she must acknowledge as her father?

Valentine intrigues me because I don't know where she came from in my imagination. I "met" her walking along the road in the blizzard, carrying a wounded collie pup. I just knew she was the one for Levi. Have you ever read a story with an unlikely love match that stuck in your mind? I always am curious about what makes one person fall madly in love with another--especially when the odds are stacked against them.

There's lots of excitement and action—and a Valentine’s Day hope for new love in this novella! Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of HIDDEN TRAILS today!

BLURB:
Levi Connor has never run from anything in his life, and he doesn’t intend to start now. After killing the two bandits who’d followed him into Indian Territory, he finds himself wounded and riding through a blinding February snowstorm. With no purpose ahead of him and no past to guide him, he discovers a reason to exist—the beautiful mixed-blood girl who takes him in and heals him.

Valentine Reneau lives in fear that her father will find her someday in the heart of Indian Territory and force her to return to Mississippi to take her mother’s place—in every way. She knows her time has run out when a stranger shows up on her land with two hired guns—and the devil in his plans.

With some unlikely help, Valentine must try to escape the slave’s fate that her mother left behind so many years before. Will Levi kill for a woman he barely knows? The chips are down, the guns blaze, and everything finally comes clear along these HIDDEN TRAILS…but who’ll be left alive?


EXCERPT:

She pulled the covers away so she could see his leg. Without saying anything more, she took the lantern from the nightstand and turned up the wick, holding it close to the wound.

“I better get to this,” she said under her breath. Then, she glanced up to meet his gaze. “How long have you been carrying this bullet? And what are you running from?”

Levi grimaced as she turned her attention back to the wound and prodded at it.

“Three days. And I ain’t runnin’, ma’am. A Connor don’t run.”

“And you are a Connor, I take it?”

“Levi Connor. Didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier,” he muttered, letting go a sharp breath as she laid a warm, wet cloth over the wound.

“Need to get it cleaned up,” she said. “I don’t want to hurt you, but it can’t be helped. Taking out a bullet is always painful, but when it’s been in there for three days—”

“I know.” He waved a hand dismissively. “I’m just obliged to you—and I’ll make it up to you—for bein’ such a bother.”

She shook her head. “No bother. Truly. My father was a doctor, so I do know a little about what I’m doing.”

Levi breathed a slow sigh of relief. This wasn’t his first bullet hole. But thank God, he’d ended up here, with a beautiful young woman who seemed capable of treating him. There had been times before when he would have prayed to be in this circumstance, rather than some of the ones he’d found himself in.

Gentle hands ministered to him, but he suddenly remembered the very delicate location of the bullet hole and tried to re-cover himself.

“Mr. Connor, I’ve seen everything you have—and many others just like it,” Valentine said matter-of-factly. “I can’t very well remove a bullet from a wound I can’t see.” She snatched the covers from his hand and threw them back to his side. “You’re making it harder for me to be able to do what I need to.”

“In a week or two, I’d pay money for you to flip those covers away like that,” Levi answered.
She bent a long, hard look on him. “I’m not for sale, Mr. Connor. Not at any price. You want to keep riding?”

Levi shook his head. “Forget I said that, Valentine. Just the pain and the…damn humiliation talkin’. I didn’t mean it.”

A slow smile quirked her lips. “I can’t imagine you ever being embarrassed.”
“Believe it or not, I was raised a gentleman, ma’am.”

“I believe it, Mr. Connor. I do believe it.” Her voice was soft and sincere, and full of loss for things Levi didn’t understand.

But just then, she pulled the wound open and probed for the bullet, and the pain stripped everything else away from him. There was nothing in Levi’s consciousness but Valentine and her tweezers, delving into the bloody hole in his leg. He swallowed back the cry that threatened to bring the roof down, forcing it away.

If you can't wait to see if you won, here's the Amazon buy link!
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Trails-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00T235K92/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=16D3YSJFEK4WEP34SH6V

24 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Hi Charlie! Thank you! It's just a short novella, but this one is written for everyone--not much "mushy stuff" in there at all for you guys! LOL

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  2. Naturally Levi is half dead. Would it be a Cheryl Pierson story without a half dead hero? Certainly not! Valentine sure has a heavy history to bare. There is no doubt in my mind that Levi will straighten everything out and make it right because that's the way a Cheryl Pierson hero rolls.
    I wish you all the best, Cheryl, and happy Valentine's Day!!
    BTW, what a way to get a story idea--saving a wounded puppy in a dang blizzard.

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    1. Sarah, you always crack me up. Yes, of course, Levi has GOT to be half dead--seems like most of my guys are...or will be...at some point. And you bet he's going to straighten it all out and see that Valentine is safe.

      Thanks so much for stopping by today, Sarah! Happy Valentine's Day to you, too, dear friend!

      Cheryl

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  3. This sounds like my kind of story, Cheryl. Sort of a "Band of Angels" movie type of story. I love to read about characters who are of mixed heritage because they have so much more baggage to carry. These are the stories I like to read, with conflict that oozes the pages, making me, the reader, wonder how in the world will they get out of their dilemma!

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    1. Hi Alice! Most of my heroes ARE of mixed heritage, but this is my first time to write one about a heroine who is part black, and I really just loved her to pieces. She is the perfect woman for Levi, and even though he was raised in the South, he "doesn't hold with ownin' slaves..."

      I really enjoy writing mixed heritage characters, because as you say, they DO have so much more baggage to carry and there is automatically built-in conflict for everyone.

      Thank you so much for stopping by today! I've got you entered in the drawing.

      Cheryl

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    2. Hello Cheryl. The story sounds very intriguing. Your writing is so real I can all but feel her probing into the bullet wound in his leg with her tweezers.

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    3. Hey Barb! Thanks so much! What a nice compliment--I appreciate it. And thanks for coming by today.
      Cheryl

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  4. Hello Cheryl from another Cheryl. Your novella sounds really good. Best of luck with it.

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    1. Hey Cheryl! We Cheryls have to stick together--not many of us out there. LOL Thanks for stopping by today--gotcha entered in the drawing, lady!
      Cheryl

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  5. Half dead and a randy hound, to boot. Valentine, honey, if the wound and those sharp tweezers are that close... Let's just say you can have him mindin' his manners right quick. ;-)

    Love Valentine's backstory, and she seems like a pistol. Are you sure Levi doesn't go from half-dead to full-dead?

    Can't wait to read this one, Okie. Sounds like a winner to me!

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    1. Now, Tex, you know I never kill off my guys. He will recover and things will take another twisty turn or two when the bad guys show up. I hope you enjoy!
      Cheryl

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  6. Well told as usual, and the plot...yahoo. Loved it. Doris

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    1. Doris, thank you so much. You are such a great supporter and I appreciate the heck out of you, lady! Thanks for stopping by today!
      Cheryl

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  7. I cringed with Levi. Very good writing, pulled me right in. Good luck with this. I think it will do well.

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    1. Heh heh heh...(that's my short evil laugh, Connie). Levi must be "cringed over" because we have to be sympathetic toward him, right? Thanks so much for the compliment! I'm glad you liked the excerpt. I sure hope this story does great.
      Cheryl

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  8. Cheryl, what can I say--every time I read one of your stories I seem to love that one as much as the others. You're like the Every Ready battery bunny--you just go on and on with perfection. And everything you write I relish. Thoroughly enjoyed Jason's Angel--just finished it. I loved the spunk of Valentine when she pulled the sheet back and then so casually said she'd seen many just like it--WOW, not that will take a man back and put him in his place. Can't wait to read more as I was pulled in by his embarrassment and her pluck but calm, determined attitude. Another great one. You are an inspiration to all of us. Wishing you the best. And Happy Valentine's Day.

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    1. Hi Bev! Well, now this is the best Valentine ever! Thanks so much for your very kind words--I appreciate each and every one of them. So glad you enjoyed Jason's Angel. Valentine is very hardy--she's been through a lot--much more than Levi knows at this point. I'm so glad you enjoyed the excerpt! Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!
      Cheryl

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  9. As sometimes happens, I drew two names out of the hat. I've got two winners of HIDDEN TRAILS! Alice Trego and Cheryl Elaine Williams, you are my two winners. If you see this, please contact me at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com so I can send your prize to you! I will try to look you up on FB as well. Congratulations, ladies, and a very HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by today!
    Cheryl

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  10. Boy are you two in for a treat, Congratulations Alice and Cheryl. Doris

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  11. I missed out on this post yesterday while treating my valentine to dinner and a movie, but I have to ask now. What approach do you use to put yourself in the mind (or shoes, if you will) of a character who is of a different ethnicity than yours?

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    1. JD, when I wrote Gabriel's Law, I had done a lot of research into Indian assimilation, boarding school, etc. As it turned out, the treatment of the children at the orphanage was the same for all (in my story) by the cruel headmaster. There's one section in the story where Brandon and Allie are talking, and he enumerates all the reasons why they can't be together (which of course goes up in a blaze of flame a few seconds later). LOL

      As for Valentine, in this story, her stepfather had warned her about her father and what kind of person he was. I only had to imagine a woman, no matter what color, and how fearful she would be of a man like that finding her--ruthless, cold, vengeful, and used to having his way at all costs--and how in the world would she manage to escape him if he DID find her?

      Thanks for stopping by! I hope y'all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

      Cheryl

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  12. Best of luck with the new book! Perfect weather for reading here in Tennessee: snow and ice on the ground.

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    1. Thanks, Vonn! It's the same here, in Oklahoma. I'm soooo ready for spring!

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